


Coffee Shop

by gumdroprams



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-20
Updated: 2013-11-29
Packaged: 2018-01-02 03:02:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1051751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gumdroprams/pseuds/gumdroprams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hanji is the owner of a renowned coffee shop, Ymir has a crush on Christa- the blonde girl who visits the coffee shop often, and Sasha and Connie are the spirit of the shop. Marco gets in an accident, and the employees of the coffee shop handle it differently.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is kind of a little introductory thing, so some things are little vague and there’s a lot of explanations into the characters- I'm gonna get more into that later.

Ymir sighed quietly, leaning on the counter, resting her chin in one of her hands. She’d been doing this for hours now, and no one showed up to replace her for the next shift. She figured she knew exactly who was meant to replace her, because this certain brat had no concept of being on time- it was a wonder how we was still employed. It was the third time this week. Perhaps she would take it up with the boss.

She started to zone out, but was brought back to attention by the door flying open, and the appropriately nicknamed brown-haired brat stumbling in. Ymir glared at him through narrowed eyes, to which he noticed and shrugged apologetically.

“Sorry, I missed the bus.”

“The bus near your apartment comes by on an hourly basis. You were supposed to be here 2 hours ago, Eren. You could’ve walked here by the time the next bus came to pick you up.”

“I, yeah, I uh… I fell asleep while waiting for the next bus to come. And I wasn’t sure if I could walk here in time.” Eren stuttered, scratching the back of his head.

“Whatever. Shut up and take your position.” Ymir grumbled, walking away from the counter, and putting her apron up on a rack. She was getting increasingly tired of having to work two extra hours a day due to Eren’s slacking- the boss was considerate, thankfully, and paid her for the extra hours. But, two extra hours was tiring, on top of her typical four hour day. Six hours wasn’t bad, but after weeks and weeks of it, it was exhausting.

She spent most of her time between taking orders oggling at the cute blonde girl who came in frequently, and sat in the table nearest to the corner, reading a book, or sometimes doing work, and more than once she had a laptop with her and she spent hours, scrolling through who knows what. Whatever it was, she giggled a lot, and had to force herself to stop as soon as she remembered she was in a public place, her blue eyes looking around quickly to make sure no one noticed. Several times, she made eye contact with Ymir- she smiled shyly and looked away. Ymir was grateful she hadn’t looked up often enough to notice her staring at her half of the time. 

Ymir was torn out of her thoughts by Eren bumping into her. She cursed silently at him, and he mumbled a sorry and zoomed away to his position at the counter. God, was he annoying.

“Excuse me? Do you have any extra creamer? I ran out…” 

Ymir turned around, looking around to find the source of the small voice. She looked directly in front of her, and slightly down, and damn- it was that cute girl. The girl smiled nervously- there was a good 7 or 8 inches between her forehead and Ymir’s forehead. Of course, she had to be cute, and short. A deadly combination of cute. 

“Of course!” Ymir blurted out. She might have been a little too loud compared to the pretty quiet atmosphere of the shop- the girl jumped a little, then smiled nervously again.

“Thank you very much,” she said quietly. Ymir reached into the compartment where they kept the creamer and took a handful out, holding it out to the girl. She took a few, and Ymir put the rest back where they belonged. 

“Thank you again.. um…”

“Ymir. And you’re welcome…. What’s your name?”

“Christa.” 

“What a cute name. Totally jealous.”

“Ymir is nice too.”

“Thanks.” She smiled, and the girl- Christa, turned and went back to her table, and left. Ymir stared quietly after her. She sighed, grabbed her purse from her locker, and said bye to Jean- who had just become a barista. She was so focused on Christa that she had ignored the constant bickering between Jean and Eren which had been going on since the moment Eren had stepped up to the counter, which only stopped when she had said bye to Jean. They were funny as hell to listen to, but Christa was on her priority instead, and she missed it. Oh well.

She walked out the door of the shop, zipping up a sweater she had thrown on, and started walking down the street. She lived in a two bedroom apartment by herself. She didn’t mind it was small, and she used the extra room and made it a gaming room. She ended up falling asleep in there more than she fell asleep in her actual room- the beanbag chair was really comfortable and she was particularly fond of the blanket she kept on her lap as she squinted and leaned forward as she tapped the buttons on her controller and spewed colourful profanities into her headset.

As she unlocked the door, she just couldn’t get Christa out of her mind. She ought to get her know her better, and damn, did she have a crush on her. She sighed, locking the door behind her, setting her purse down on the kitchen counter, and plopping down in her beanbag chair. She sunk into it a little, and instead of automatically turning on the console, she took out her phone, and opened up Facebook. She typed “Christa” into the searchbox. “Christa Reinz” came up, with a couple mutual friends- apparently she went to the same high school as Eren and Marco (who had a part time job at the coffeeshop- he mostly filled in for Jean, when Jean was sick. Perhaps there was a reason why he only filled in for him, she didn’t know). Upon closer inspection, she confirmed it was in fact the Christa she was looking for. She sent her a friend request without hesitation. Hopefully she’d accept it. 

Ymir shrugged and pulled her blanket over her and turned over, decided to sleep instead of staying up until the crack of dawn playing video games. She thought of Christa once more, then closed her eyes.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jean sighed and locked the door of the shop behind him. He’d been assigned to close the shop again. He put the keys in his pocket, looked around, and then took out his phone, sliding it unlocked and then typing in his password quickly. He had a few missed calls. He rolled his eyes. It was probably his mother, or Marco bothering him again. Marco never seemed to stop talking to him for a minute, and every day after work, Jean would check his phone and have anywhere between 10-45 texts full of random gibberish from Marco. He couldn’t complain- he loved Marco. They’d been dating for 2 years now, and he was now thoroughly convinced that they were going to be together for many more. He shrugged, and checked the missed calls.

Instead of his mother, it was one from Marco, and a few from Marco’s mother. What was wrong? Marco’s mother never talked to him unless she was complaining about the fact her son had stayed the night at his house without asking or to accuse him of “bruising” Marco. She didn’t understand they were hickies, not bruises. Oh well. She must be in a particularly naggy mood.

He checked the texts next. They were all from Marco, mostly really sappy things and complaining that Jean hadn’t left his favorite soda in the fridge for him when he visited. Jean chuckled to himself. What a dork. He scrolled further down the texts. One read “I’m going to the store. I’ll see you when you get off work!” 

Jean frowned. That was 3 hours ago, and the last text. It didn’t take 3 hours to go the store, and Marco always texted him once he got back. Maybe he’d check his voicemail. He dialed voicemail, and entered his password. 4 voicemails.

“Jean, I miss you.” Of course. Thanks Marco.

“Jean, the hospital called me and told me Marco was just admitted. I’m off work until 5. Can you get off work soon and check up on him?” Marco’s mother. Jean froze and listened to the other messages.

“I got off work and visited him… He’s bad, Jean. Just thought to keep you updated.” What the fuck?

“He’s stable now. He got in an accident on the way back to your house. He’s awake and he keeps asking for you. You’ll see how he is when you get here, I guess.”

Jean stood there for a moment, then ran to his car, turning on the engine, and typing the hospital’s address into the GPS. He wanted to drive as fast as he could, but he kept getting caught in red lights, each time he swore and gripped the wheel tightly, his palms sweating. After what seemed like hours, he pulled into a parking space at the hospital, stumbling out of his car, and running into the building. He checked his phone for the room number, then went up the elevator. He tapped his foot on the floor as he waited for the elevator to get to the 5th floor, then got off, walking quickly down the hallway. He stopped at the 5th room down, looked at the text to make sure he wasn’t about to walk into the wrong room, and opened the door cautiously.

“Is that Jean?” a raspy voice says.

“It’s me.” Jean replied. He opened the door fully, then closed it behind him. He almost passed out when he looked up.

Marco was laying in the bed in the center of the room. One side of his face was bandaged, and to Jean’s horror, there was a bandaged stump where his arm once was. Jean let out a strangled gasp, stumbling up to the side of the bed.

“Oh my God- Marco, are you okay, do you hurt, do you need anything?” Jean said in a panicked voice. Marco smiled at him and shook his head.

“No Jean, I’m fine.”

“You don’t want something to eat? I’m sorry I couldn’t be here sooner, I got stuck at work.”

“It’s okay. At least you came.”

“Are you in pain?” Jean asks worriedly, leaning down and kissing the non-bandaged side of Marco’s face. Marco shook his head slowly, smiling a little. Jean realized he ought to leave him be- Marco was definitely exhausted, small bags forming under his eyes. He pulled up a chair next to the bed and held Marco’s hand tightly. Marco squeezed his hand a little, then closed his eyes, letting himself nod off.

Jean watched him quietly for a few moments, then rested his head on the bed. How was he supposed to go to work tomorrow? He didn’t want to leave Marco’s side. I’ll just call in tomorrow morning and say family emergency or something, he thought. 

He dozed off a little, but every time a doctor came in to check on Marco and give him some more morphine, he woke up and watched the doctors until they left, then dozed back off. He had never been so worried in his life. He knew Marco would be alright, but he knew Marco was going through a lot of pain, though he didn’t show it. He always kept things he knew would upset Jean from him. Jean took a deep breath and exhaled loudly, and finally let himself fall asleep completely.

 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Levi took a sip of his coffee, turning a page in his newspaper. Across from him, Hanji was scribbling words in a notebook faster than he could possibly keep up with. She deserved her biology and chemistry majors she had saved up for a few years for. Oh well, at least she was happy, being able to study something she enjoyed. Levi wasn’t so lucky- he ended up going to a law school- which was the only school which gave him a scholarship, which effectively sucked all remaining patience out of him (which wasn’t much, to be honest) with hours of work and meticulous study. Hanji was always peppy and happy about school, and ended up having to drag Levi by his feet out of bed in the mornings most of the time. While Hanji excelled in biology and chemistry, Levi excelled in making the opposing side in the court absolutely terrified in a small, middle-aged man in a suit that struggled with his suitcase more than often, and had a more thorough knowledge of the way of the law than 90% of lawyers he met in court.

“What are you writing about, now?” He asks.

“DNA replication.” She replied simply.

“....I have no idea what that is, but it seems to be more interesting than me, so I will leave you be.”

“It is.” Hanji joked.

“Thanks.” He turned another page in the paper. “Any trouble at the coffeeshop?”

“Not really. Eren and Jean arguing as usual. Ymir crushing on some girl that swings by a lot. An old man threw a coffee at Eren today, though. It was pretty funny.”

“Ah. That sounds funny. And you handled the situation well?”

“Yeah. Being boss is hard.”

“You have no idea.” Levi grunted back at her. “Are you going to look away from that notebook while you’re speaking to me?”

“No.”

“God damnit.” 

Levi was surprisingly resilient to Hanji’s constant bullshit- they’d been dating for a total of 8 years, and living together for 5 of them. A large portion of their relationship was Hanji’s constant jiving, and Levi putting up with it in various ways, and the other portions consisted of making fun of the employee’s at Hanji’s coffee shop, cuddling in front of the fireplace, kissing (and some other related unmentionables), and various other things which many others would consider cute. When out in public, people couldn’t tell if they were dating or Hanji was dragging him around, like an unfortunate male friend being taken on a shopping spree during the holiday season.  
After several minutes of silence, Hanji stood up from her chair and walked over behind Levi, wrapping her arms around him from behind him, kissing him lightly on the cheek.

“Would you like to visit the shop tomorrow?” Hanji asks. Levi nods in response, putting the paper and his coffee down and standing up, turning around and pulling her close to him. He rested his head against her chest, wrapping his arms around her waist. 

Levi loved holding her. He loved her warmth, her scent, her heartbeat, the way she giggled when he kissed her neck and her cheeks. Holding Hanji was like a temporary escape from working and having a headache about something- or no reason at all. He loved her, and that’s all that he really cared about anymore. He spent most of his earnings towards their living costs, and the rest for her. When Hanji bought things for him, he protested (sometimes for hours), until he accepted it. Hanji knew that he wasn’t being stubborn, he just was confused because he was used to giving to Hanji, not getting from Hanji. Hanji sighed, rubbing Levi’s back silently.

“You know that one boy that works at the shop? That has the freckles- he got in an accident today.” Hanji said after a while.

“Is he alright?”

“Yeah. I don’t know if he’ll be able to work anytime soon though. He needs recovery time.”

“It’s a shame something happened to him. He’s a very sweet boy. I hope he pulls through alright.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Levi sighed and closed his eyes, listening to Hanji’s breathing. He could stay like this forever if he wanted to. And he tried to, until he ended up falling asleep on her. She noticed when he gradually slumped more and more, until she had to hold him up. Hanji laughed and set him down on their bed, and stood there, watching him for a few minutes. 

Boy, he never stopped working. He would literally work until he passed out or Hanji forced him away from his desk. Hanji scolded him about this several times, but he always ignored her, relying on coffee and energy drinks to keep him awake during the day, and during the night, he just stayed awake without help. He was like a night owl trying to stay awake in the daytime half of the time. More than once, Hanji had to pick him up from his office because he passed out in the middle of doing something. Hanji got worried about it after a while, and ended up taking him to the doctors (with a lot of protest from Levi). He had been diagnosed with insomnia. He hated his prescription- it made him grouchy and even more unpleasant to be around then he already was. So, he refused to take his medication half of the time, so he stayed awake until he eventually passed out, then slept for a while, or Hanji laid down with him and held him for a while- the two things that would actually get him to sleep.

She smiled and laid next to him, pulling him close to her. He made a small noise of protest as he was moved from his warm spot, but he calmed himself quickly and smiled slightly, mumbling her name, then slipped back into a deep sleep. Shortly after, Hanji fell asleep herself.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“One mocha cookie crumble frappuccino!” Connie yelled over his shoulder to the barista. 

“Gotcha, Connie!”

“Thanks, Sasha.” 

The coffee shop seemed to change atmosphere from a quiet place to relax, to an energetic, peppy place when Connie and Sasha happened to work at the same time. Surprisingly, after about a month of working there, customers started to learn their shift patterns and the amount of patrons visiting near tripled during their hours of work. The reason why people loved them so much- Sasha came up with strange and dorky, yet catchy songs every time she got to make a special drink, and sang them passionately over the sound of the blender. Most people would think it’d sound like a racket, but Sasha really knew how to sing, and Connie sometimes tapped a beat with pens and various utensils he could find sitting around. They were relatively infamous for this- people spread the word around town and brought their friends with them, and the local high school football team always came by after their games, which more than often ended during Connie and Sasha’s shifts, so they all flocked to the coffee shop. It got loud really fast.

Sasha started singing about chocolate and cookies and coffee, and Connie laughed a little, half-heartedly tapping out a tune with a plastic fork on the side of the counter. Hanji walked into the shop, taking a second and frowning at all the commotion. She remembered this was a regular thing and shrugged it off, laughing a little. She walked behind the counter, and into her office, snorting and chuckling when Sasha sang something really stupid about whipped cream as she applied a generous amount to the drink she had been making. 

“One mocha cookie crumble frappuccino!” She yelled, and an excited customer took the drink from her, thanking her quickly and sitting down to enjoy their drink. Sasha gave a thumbs up to Connie, and in response he rolled his eyes and chuckled. 

Sasha looked to the tables in front of the coffee shop, nearest to the door. She was surprised to find Levi there- whenever he happened to visit to give Hanji company and they were working he usually left. He apparently hated loud noises and it gave him a headache, as Hanji told her. Well, he had his coffee- black, as she had remembered he had ordered (How could he stand that stuff?)- and seemed content reading a large novel, which she remembered she read for English class. My God, he was reading Watership Down, Sasha thought to herself. What a weirdo. 

She wondered how Hanji and Levi had been dating for 8 years. If she were Hanji, she would’ve gotten sick of his constant cantankerous behavior long before the 1 year mark. Maybe they had something together that Sasha couldn’t identify. Everyone knew her and Connie had been dating- it wouldn’t surprise her, because they constantly joked around and messed with the other employees and sometimes held each other’s hands as they left after work, and that one time that they had gotten in trouble for making out in the supply closet and got caught by Bertholdt, who was coming in to grab a mop to clean up a spill. Once he realized what he had walked in on, he sweated profusely and ran to tell Hanji on them. 

While Sasha had trailed off in her thoughts, Connie sneaked up on her and jabbed her sides. Sasha let out a startled gasp and glared at him. She’d get him back later, she swore.

“Hey, Sasha, do you know why Jean hasn’t come in today?” Connie asks.

“Heard there was a family emergency. Not sure what exactly though, but Marco won’t be coming in either.”

“Damn. We could use Marco today. Remember that one time he came in during our shift and he sang with us?”

“Yeah, he had a nice voice. It’s a shame he’s not here right now.”

“Hopefully he’ll be back soon. We start the holiday stuff soon, and we need someone to help put up the decorations and stuff.” 

“Yeah.” Sasha sighed and took out another cup, starting to make another drink, this time singing about a caramel macchiato. She didn’t show it, but she was concerned for Jean and Marco. If one missed a day, the other would fill in, and it was completely new for one of them not to be there. Perhaps Jean would come in again in a few days. She handed the drink to the customer, then turned to Connie.

“I’m gonna take a break.” She said quietly, then walked into the back, sitting in a chair, and checking her facebook on her iPhone. She scrolled quietly through her newsfeed, then typed in Marco’s name, and read the most recent status he posted.

“I’m in the hospital. I’m okay I guess, as in I’m alive, and I’ll be staying that way, and I’ll hopefully be able to walk around for once! I hate sitting down in one spot for more than an hour and I’ve been here for a day. Bluh. Oh well, see you guys soon!” 

Well, at least he was alright. She went to Jean’s profile. Jean hadn’t updated since he was leaving work yesterday- a single selfie with a cup of coffee, titled “So glad to finally be off of work and gonna see Marco soon!” Sasha wasn’t surprised. When he wasn’t in a good enough mood, he didn’t update his facebook every 5 minutes as he normally did. He was probably pampering Marco and never leaving his side. Sasha shrugged and pulled out her lunchbox and removed a bag of chips, then sat there for a while longer, munching quietly on them and texting a few friends of hers. After she finished the bag, she tossed it in the trash, sighed again, and walked back out to join Connie again. She figured she’d wait eagerly for Jean and/or Marco’s return instead of angsting over it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marco continues his recovery, and Ymir finally makes some progress on Christa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long, I had a severe case of writers block! It's a bit shorter than the first chapter 'A'. No connie and sasha this chapter, oopsies!

Marco woke up with a start. He looked around quickly, panicking a little, his breaths coming in short, quick gasps. Jean. He needed to text Jean, tell him he was alright, get out of the car. He moved to take his phone out of his pocket- then he finally remembered, he was in the hospital, and he had no right arm to reach into the pocket where he usually kept his phone.

Every night he had nightmares of the accident and woke up in a panic. He couldn’t remember much during the day, but when he slept, he relived it over and over again, clear as day. He remembered the moment of panic as the car in the other lane drifted over to the other side, coming straight towards him, and he couldn’t react fast enough. He remembered everything going black, but he remembered waking up, and there was so much noise. People shouting, someone crying, sirens, the sounds of people quickly telling people what happened on their phones. And then came the pain. It was just an annoyance at first, but the adrenaline faded, and his whole entire side burned with agony, and each breath made his sides feel like knives were being stabbed into his sides. He remembered looking around, his vision blurry, seeing the emergency crew walk up to the mangled remains of his car. They asked him something, but he couldn’t speak, and then he lost consciousness. 

“Marco? You’re awake already?” Jean’s voice tore him out of his thoughts, and he jumped a little in surprise.

“Huh? Yeah, I’m awake.” He muttered.

“You usually don’t wake up before nine. It’s seven in the morning.”

“I could say the same about you, mister ‘2 in the evening.’” Marco laughed, then pulled Jean towards him, then kissed him.

Jean eagerly returned the kiss. They hadn’t had any intimate contact for a few days, since Marco’s admittance to the hospital, and he started the recovery process. Marco knew that Jean craved for his affection, and he was finally getting it.

Together they sat there, kissing for a while- Marco lost track of the time. They would’ve gone on for hours if a doctor hadn’t walked in on them. The doctor cleared his throat, and they untangled quickly. Jean turned tomato red and scooted away from the side of the bed, and Marco buried himself in the blankets.

“How are you doing, Marco?” The doctor asked.

“I’m doing fine.”

“Are you still having any phantom pains?”

“No, not really. It feels like I still have the arm, but I mean, it doesn’t hurt.”  
“Ah, that’s good. Do you mind if I check how well your arm is healing?”

“No, not at all.”

The doctor unwound the bandages, inspecting the injury closely. It had been healing perfectly, as the doctors had observed. The doctor nodded, writing some notes down a clipboard, then changed the bandages.

“Excellent. You are recovering quickly.”

“Thanks, I guess, if that’s a compliment.”

The doctor left the room, and Jean and Marco sat in silence for a while. Jean scooted back over and sat on the side of the bed, holding Marco’s hand.

“Jean, you know you can go back to work now? I’m alright, and I’ll be ready to leave in a couple weeks. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“I know, but it’s really hard to leave you for more than an hour at this point.”

“Stop worrying about me Jean. I’ll be alright for a few hours on my own. Remember the trip we plan to take in the summer? You gotta make money for that. We still need a few hundred dollars for pocket change.”

“True… I guess I could go work again tomorrow or something.”

“Yeah. And you could bring us back one of those holiday drinks to share, too, right?”

“Mhm. I could..”

“Yeah. You should.”

Jean nodded silently in agreement. He would go into work tomorrow. It’d been four days since Marco’s accident- four days without work, four days of not getting the money they needed for their trip. Plus, he was sure the people at worked missed him, even Eren, who he wasn’t exactly on good terms with, and Connie and Sasha were probably starting to sing holidays songs, in combination with their normal (and somewhat annoying) songs about their drinks.

“I’ll go in tomorrow, alright?”

“Alright.” Marco mumbled, and sank further under the covers of the bed. Jean held his hand tightly, and they sat there silently for a while.

“Hey, Jean?”

“Yeah?”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ymir jumped and swore when her alarm went off promptly at 9AM. She fumbled around the room in a tangled mass of blankets, trying to find where she threw her phone, then reached down, and silenced the alarm.

“God damn.” She huffed. She stood there for a few minutes, waiting to wake up somewhat, then plopped back down on her chair. She unlocked her phone, then checked her Facebook. She had several notifications. Maybe Christa had accepted her friend request? Ymir grinned in anticipation, then opened the notification tab.

“Christa Reinz has accepted your friend request.” Ymir stopped caring about the other notifications, which where just likes and a couple comments from people that annoyed her anyway.

“Sweet.” She mumbled to herself, then rolled off of her chair, stumbling to the kitchen and pouring herself a bowl of cereal, then situating herself at the bathroom counter. She brushed her hair out while simultaneously texting Sasha and eating her cereal. She was definitely an interesting person in the morning, and she knew it. Mine as well get everything done at once, right?

Once both Ymir’s cereal and hair was finished, she changed into her work uniform and pulled a sweater on over it, grabbed her phone and her lunch (a bag of chips and a sandwich), and left. She still had about an hour until she was needed for her shift, but she wanted to see if Christa was there. It was 10 AM, so she was probably at the shop at this time, as she had been several times before.

Her prediction proved correct when she stepped inside the coffee shop and found Christa, in her usual spot. Ymir’s confidence in conversing with Christa seemed to instantly disappear, and she hesitated. Christa looked up at her and smiled, and damn, she had to talk to her now, there was no escape.

“Hey, Ymir!” Christa yelled and beckoned her over. Shit, she was just too cute.

“Hey, Christa.” Ymir said and sat in the chair across from her. She hoped Christa wouldn’t notice how anxious and nervous she was around her.

“How are you Ymir? Also, I find your colourful vocabulary on Facebook entertaining.”

“I’m fine, and thanks, I guess.”

“When do you start your shift?”

“In about 40 minutes.”

“You think I could maybe order a drink from you?”

“Eh, I’m not that much of a barista. I usually hide at the cash register. If you want, I can make you something when I get a free minute. Whaddaya want?”

“Hm…. You’re making those special holiday drinks now, right?”

“Yeah. The peppermint mocha ones?”

“I think so, yeah.” Ymir smiled a little.

“Cool, I want one of those. Also… You have freckles- I never noticed. They look nice on you.”

Ymir felt herself blushing and instinctively buried her face in her hands. Christa laughed at her and apologized, patting her shoulder lightly. She was pretty embarrassed at the fact she was reduced to a blushing mess by one small compliment. She was prepared to compliment and flirt, but not be complimented. Oh well, at least Christa might be interested?

“T-thanks. Sorry, I don’t handle compliments well.”

“It’s alright, Ymir.”

For 40 more minutes, they sat there, talking together about life, Christa’s blog (which she told Ymir about, which turned out to be the source of her occasional fits of laughter), and their favorite drinks, the employees at the coffee shop, and their favorite songs that Sasha and Connie had come up with. Eventually, Ymir glanced at her phone and sighed loudly.

“Ah, I have to work now… You’re still gonna be around right, after I make you something?”

“If you want me to, of course! It’s fun talking to you.”

“It’s nice talking to you, too. I’ll chat with you during my break too, mkay?”

“Alright. Later, Ymir!”

“Later.” Ymir smiled and walked behind the counter, waving back at Christa as she opened the door into the backroom. She put her stuff in her locker, then sighed and put on her apron and stepped back out behind the counter. She leaned against the counter, propping her head up with one hand. She kept making eye contact with Christa and they would both smile at each other. Ymir sometimes found herself distracted and an unlucky customer would end up waiting several minutes while Ymir was staring intently at Christa, absorbing every little feature about her. Eventually, she’d notice and apologize and take their order, then return to staring at Christa.

The day went by faster than she thought, and before she knew it, she was about to go on her break. She quickly made the drink that Christa had requested earlier, ran around the front of the counter, handed the drink to her, then ran back behind the counter to grab her lunch, and then return.

“Heya, Christa.” Ymir said once she sat down in the chair opposite Christa.

“Hey, Ymir.” Christa said quietly back from behind the lid of her cup. She put it down on the table and wiped the whipped cream from her upper lip and smiled at Ymir. Ymir laughed a little.

“Did I put too much cream on it?”

“No, it’s perfect. And same with the drink. Thanks, Ymir.”

“You’re welcome. Um, next time you want one…. go ahead and hit me up.” Ymir did a crooked smile and opened her lunch bag and removed the chips, and started eating them quietly, browsing through her phone and occasionally typing a quick response to someone messaging her.

“Hey, Ymir?”

“Yeh?”

“Um, do you wanna go… To the movies tomorrow? I accidentally bought an extra ticket… I mind as well put it to good use, right?” Christa said shyly. She actually had bought it on purpose, but she didn’t want to put that out- Ymir would probably flip her shit more than she already was. Ymir’s eyes lit up and then filled with confusion, and then excitement, and her mouth opened a little as she processed a response.

“I… I, yeah, wow, sure that’d be pretty cool! I don’t have anything going on tomorrow, and I’m off completely. We can hang out before! And we can have something to eat after, it’ll be on me. Maybe you’d like to stay over the night?” Ymir blurted out. She expected Christa to shrink away, but she nodded eagerly.  
“Yeah, sounds fun! I’m up for it!” Christa said excitedly. 

“Hell yea!” Ymir said loudly, almost yelling. She realized how loud she was and shrunk down in her chair, giggling quietly. It was awesome she finally got a chance to something (possibly romantic) with Christa. At least she was making progress, right?

They sat together talking excitedly about their plans for the next day for the remainder of Ymir’s lunch break. Once it was time for her to work again, she said bye to Christa. She got up and started walking away, but Christa pulled her back suddenly. Ymir opened her mouth to say something in protest, but Christa shushed her.

“I really like you, alright, Ymir?”

“I…..” Ymir’s face flushed dark and she stared at Christa in disbelief for a minute, before muttering, “I like you too… See you tomorrow, alright?” 

They hugged quickly and Ymir sped off behind the counter. Connie laughed and pointed at her, and Sasha giggled quietly. She assumed they were making fun of her blushing. Oh well, she didn’t care anymore.

Today was a great day, and she wouldn’t let two bumbling idiots throw her out of her good mood.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Get any sleep, last night, Levi?”

“Nah, Hanji. Not a minute.”

“I thought you were asleep when I came home?” Hanji asked quietly, putting a cup of tea next to Levi, who was sitting on the couch in the living room. Levi nodded his thanks and took a sip of it, sighing contently, then looked back up at Hanji.

“Nah, I was faking it.” He said quietly. “Didn’t want to disappoint you.”

“I would’ve gotten you some medicine if laying next to you didn’t work. Should’ve told me.”

“I hate that medicine. I’d rather die than take that. I can’t stand not being in control of the mood swings it causes.”

“I know, but, it’d help you a lot, Levi…”

“No.” Levi leaned back in his chair, promptly ending the conversation with an exaggerated sip of his tea. Hanji sighed at him and shook her head, mumbling under her breath.  
“Alright, then. Try and get some sleep tonight, alright?” Hanji said and sat next to Levi, holding his free hand. Levi looked at her, the corners of his mouth twitching in a small smile, then leaned against her shoulder.

“I don’t wanna work today, Hanji. Can you just, knock me out and I can sleep and not work at the same time?”

Hanji took a second to try and find out if he was joking or not. His monotone voice didn’t hint at sarcasm at all, and it didn’t sound any more serious than it normally was. She decided he was being an idiot and joking with her.

“Ah…. I can call in for you, if you want me too? Say you’re not feeling well and your insomnia is particularly bad? I’ll make you more tea and soup and make you comfortable.”

“Sounds good. I’d rather lay on the couch all day than sit at a desk, dealing with everyone’s bullshit while having a massive headache.”

“Alright.” Hanji got up to call in sick for Levi, and Levi slumped over and laid were Hanji had been sitting. He set his tea aside and pulled the blanket that had been folded over the top of the couch over him. 

Sometimes he wished he didn’t have to deal with anyone but Hanji and himself. She was probably the only person that he didn’t want to roll his eyes at or pretend to be interested in what they had to say. Even if he had no idea what the fuck she was talking about, he listened to her intently, not only just because he wanted to hear her voice, but he just enjoyed talking to her. It’s weird to explain, but, when she talked, he felt better. Even through his constant headaches and exhaustion, Hanji was the only relief he seemed to have. And she knew this.

They loved each other. They had yet to get officially married, but they were basically devoted to each other, without a fancy ceremony and all. Hanji’s mother constantly pestered them about getting officially married, or at least engaged, but both of them weren’t really into the idea. Perhaps sometime in the future, they would, but who knew what they were going to do?

“Okay, the office said you’re good.” Hanji said, tearing Levi out of his thoughts, making him jump a little in surprise.

“Wh- Oh, alright. Thanks, Hanji.” He sighed and reached for his tea, taking a small sip from it. “By the way, how are your studies going? Learn anything new?”

“Eh, not really. Mostly just more complicated and detailed things about stuff I already knew.” She replied, sitting on the floor next to the couch.

“Oh, that’s cool. Willing to share any? And you can get on the couch too, by the way.”  
“You wouldn’t understand anything I told you- a whole bunch of weird vocabulary you’re not familiar with. And alright.” Hanji sat at the end of the couch and Levi rested his head on her lap, holding one of her hands.

“Oh, alright. Glad to hear you’re learning stuff, though. Your tuition was expensive.”

“Yeah, I know. Thanks for paying most of it.”

“You’re welcome, Hanji. And no, you won’t ever need to pay me back, unless you fuck up really bad and piss me off.”

“Don’t worry. I know better than to do that.” 

“I thought so. Oh, have you heard from Marco or Jean?”

“Yeah,” Hanji sighed. “Jean’s coming in tomorrow, but Marco isn’t sure when- and if- he’ll be able to come in again.”

Levi nodded silently and closed his eyes, making small circles with his thumb on Hanji’s hand, between her thumb and index finger. Hanji smiled down at him, running her fingers through his hair. Levi sighed contently and smiled.

“That feels great. I could almost fall asleep right now.” He mumbled.

“That’d be ideal. You need to, and you have the entire day to sleep, too.” 

Hanji waited for a response, but got none. She tilted her head to look at Levi’s face. His eyes were closed and his sides rose and fell slowly. He looked peaceful- which was only notable because whenever he was sleeping, he always looked like he was living hell in his dreams or something. Which wouldn’t surprise her- Levi had been in the military for several years before coming back to stay with Hanji. He couldn’t stand being separated from her for longer than a few months, and, granted they could see each other every few months, it was only for about a week and half. And Levi couldn’t take that- he needed more of an escape from the turmoils of the battlefield.

He was probably dreaming about whatever horrible things he’d seen on the battlefield. Hanji tried to ask him what had happened, but he would always change the subject. She figured that he didn’t want to evoke painful memories. Maybe some day he’d tell her. But for now, he seemed at peace, his eyes flickering occasionally behind his eyelids. He must’ve been dreaming of something nice.

Hanji yawned quietly. Watching Levi sleep made her tired. She mind as well take a nap with him- she had nothing better to do. She closed her eyes, resting her head on the side of the couch and let herself fall asleep to the sound of Levi’s steady breathing.


End file.
